Saturday Seven Favorite Suspense series

Ophelia Bell, LATFOB 2017

Sci-fi panel, LATFOB 2017

The effervescent Tara Lain at the Dreamspinner booth, LATFOB 2017

I hope that those bibliophiles in the area get a chance to stop by the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books this weekend. It's a great opportunity to bond with the "tribe" and celebrate the love of books (and get a free totebag and other goodies, lol). I don't feel like dealing with the crowds or the heat, but it's a great opportunity to visit the USC campus and enjoy the sights and presentations.

Poppies 2017

The Antelope Valley Poppy Festival is also this weekend, so if you're into crafts, poppies, or other entertainment, it's also a great way to enjoy the fresh air (but beware of heat stroke!). Sadly, they haven't had the wonderful smooth jazz performers the past few years, but it's still a fun festival.

I've gotten hooked on multiple suspense thriller series over the years, although, sadly, I haven't been able to keep up with most of them as my life has gotten more and more crowded, but here are some of the ones I've enjoyed.


    

Jonathan Kellerman. Despite this author's connection to that hated rival school (speaking of which, congrats to all of the new Trojans being released upon the world in a couple of weeks!) I enjoyed seeing L.A. from a different perspective and watching Alex Delaware's life change (and of course adoring his spoiled dog, lol) and the tricky twists that the cases took. I enjoyed some of his wife (Faye's) stories as well, but never quite developed the same degree of attachment to her books although I was fascinated to learn more about Jewish culture through following her stories.

    

Catherine Coulter. I loved the insouciance and psychic element of this series, and the wonderful connection these folks have with each other. It doesn't hurt that Lacey Sherlock is as bad-ass and capable as her soulmate, either!


    

Patricia Cornwell. I didn't know much about what a Medical Examiner did until I started this series...and sometimes...it was more than I needed to know...like the Body Farm and whatnot, but it was fascinating! I didn't like the weird turn the series took after a while with a couple of the recurring male characters, and I eventually stopped reading.


    


Catherine Coulter and J.T. Ellison. What a winning combination of a collaboration! I'm afraid I'm VERY far behind on these books, but I have enjoyed the ones I've read and have been impressed by the synergy between these two authors.



       


J.A. Jance. I was amazed that this author was able to keep three distinct series fresh and captivating, but never boring. I adored J.P. Beaumont and was thrilled that Joanna Brady was such a capable representative of the law while juggling the duties of motherhood, plus the emotionalism of following Alison Reynolds kept me following her adventures avidly.

    
Iris Johansen. It's amazing how characters become part of your life. I was enthralled by Eve Duncan's ability to reconstruct a skull's face (and yes, I've forgotten the fancy term) through a combination of scientific measurements and an eerie psychic connection and the author impressed me even more by the remarkable secondary characters she gradually elevated in importance over the years. As frequently happens with me, I was fascinated by the psychic/paranormal elements in the series.



    

John Sanford. I got more squeamish the more of these I read and decided that I needed a stronger stomach to keep up with the graphic violence depicted, so I gave up reading this author!


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Yes, I never can stick to just seven, lol...
    

I should mention the prolific Sandra Brown, who I have also been following (like Iris Johansen and Jayne Krentz) since her days with series romances, but she doesn't tend to have an ongoing connected series! The admirable Nora Roberts also has plenty of stand-alone suspense stories that never fail to enthrall.


Please share some of your favorites as well and don't forget to visit the other wonderful authors who are participating in the Saturday Seven hop that is the brainchild of Long and Short Reviews. Start at this link.